Last month I posted about some reactivity issues I was having with Benny asking if they were genetic and got some good objective ideas


Reactivity

Today I had a lovely 2 hour session hike with our trainer who we started with when Benny was 13 months. It had been a year since our last real session although we have gotten together to talk about dogs ( is there any better topic) and have kept up with eachother.

She believes Benny's reactivity is genetic but that he has an over all good temperament and is definitely malleable. My instincts were telling me the same thing but good to hear it from an expert. She recommends really tightening up Benny's obedience so that "Down" means to instantly hit the deck and not take 10 steps first and "Come" means race to me and not "Just let me sniff this bush first"! She said think of obeying a command on a scale of 1-10 and anything over a 7 gets enthusiastic praise . Anything below requires a do over!

Now I know what me New Years resolution will be!

She suggested using our cat and all the distractions as training opportunities.

The idea is that Benny, under stress tends to react impulsively so I can utilize this to make him impulsively obey.

He did really well today but I could see him thinking. "Yeah she threw my ball and I got it and am running back to her, but I know she is gonna yell "down" and make me stop before I reach her!"

Here he is at the entrance to the park.

Thanks for sharing what you're doing. Your Benny and my Riley sound a lot alike. I would love to hear more about what she's basing her belief in his reactivity being genetic on so I can "compare notes."

We're started working w/a behaviorist that comes to our house about six weeks ago or so. She trained with Patricia McConnell and follows her methods etc. She hasn't mentioned genetics, at least not so far so your comment is really interesting for me.

We agree that a big problem w/him is built up stress. One of the contributing factors is that he (neither dog actually) doesn't get enough activity = brain-work or physical. I had to face up to myself and what I am and am not doing with them = guilty of not enough. At minimum we're talking a combination of major cabin fever and bordom that's built up over the years.

Not being an active person nor very inventive when it comes to keeping their brains occupied I have to make a better effort. Instead of 3-4 40'ish or so minute in-city walks per week we're getting in the car and hunting down open fields outside the city for off-leash romp'n'sniff sessions. This past week we went almost every day. It helps kill 2 birds w/one stone because they get both physical excercise and mental stimulation w/the new smells in the various locations - a lot more than city walks.

So now I have a total of 4 locations and vary/rotate where we go. I should be able to find more now that hunting season is over so I'll be looking for more woodsy areas. It's ridiculous it's so hard to get me out of the house cuz once we're out there I *love* watching them romp'n'stomp <g> but I'm such a hermit that getting me out is like pulling teeth.

I bought 2 of the biggest Kongs made and one meal a day at least is served in a Kong. I weigh out their portions and cut up cube style what fits snugly in their Kongs and the rest goes in their bowls. Ours like their meat frozen which means no clean-up mess for me I only put *boneless* meats in the Kongs and set the Kong down by their bowls at mealtime.

This is getting really long so I'll quit here except for to say my behaviorist gave me a book written by Patricia McConnell called "Feisty Fido - Help for the Leash-Reactive Dog." It's only like 55 pages, which I'm going to be starting tonight. She told me that although it specifies leash reactive it can be applied to other things.

Interesting. Siena is very much the same as Benny. I've got (at least) one session left with Lisa. We're just trying to get it scheduled now. Hmmm, genetics? Siena is SLOW with all her commands Lisa is AWESOME though!

When Lisa said she believes it is in part genetic she meant that many GSD's tend to be quick to react to a situation. Benny's tendency to get easily amped up is genetic; Sometimes it is fear based and sometimes just excited about life. "PARK FOOD PLAY" HELP I'M AM EXCITED GONNA BLOW"

The idea is to get his obedience so tight that his impulse is to instantly obey a command, even when he is not thinking clearly.

Benny does get enough exercise a miniumum of an hour walk on my 4 and park play with Jake on my 4 work days and much more on days off . We try to go to new places too. I am an introvert too, prefer being with my dog than most people. I try to keep him mentally tired too, always learning new things.

Diana, Lisa wants to plan monthly hikes so hopefully we can all have some group sessions with Keefalo, Kayla and Lancer soon.

i am glad you had a good session! i think that often folks dont realize that even though you exercise your dog if you dont demand obiedience during that walk, it is just a walk- not training. if you dont train you will not improve training problems. my problem had been fritz not thinking i am serious when i ask for a command. like what is mentioned here... i would say sit, he would slowly sit (he has no pyshical problems he can sit lightening fast for a high value treat) so i realized i let him get away with that lazy slow sit for too long and had to absolutely always 1. not reward a slow sit. 2. correct the slow sit . i do that by pulling up on the collar until he sits. i realize that correction part is something most folks are against, but i am not. you do it right - party. you dont (and i know you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what i want) correction. in training you must remember if you are not training the dog the dog is training you. if you do not correct that slow sit, you are basically telling the dog a slow sit is ok. this is true for every command that your dog knows. if you have to repeat a command "sit sit sit sit" and he finally sits on the 4th time you say it you are reinforcing to the dog that he has 4 times longer to sit than you really want. the recall - same thing. if you recall the dog and it stops on the way, and you allow it to, then it will always think you will allow it. if you want obiedience you have to be consistant no matter if you are in the house, out on a walk, in the city. absolutely always you have to be ready to enforce your commands. this is not an easy thing. i started tapeing every training session, yes i was videoing myself every single day and i saw exactly the times i didnt pay attention to my dog - even though i would swear i was. i noticed that every time the dog would come around behind me to the heel position, hw was taking that time to gawk around at the others in the park or on the field. i notice that he would be slow to sit. i was amazed and shocked to see the littlest of things that i allowed to slip by. video is amazing and doesnt lie. i became more mindful of these little things and have improved upon them. i start from the second i take the dogs out of the car. i demand a sit as soon as they touch the ground. depending on the distractions, i may make them sit there the whole time i am getting my gear ready. i have found that tightening up on all aspects of OB has gotten great results. and the dogs do not hold a grudge or hate me for doing so. if you are fair in your training i dont know why they would...

Great news, Debbie.
I'm a firm believer in "down" being the most important command in dog language. It has proven to be a life saver on a couple of occasions. I've always firmed up the commands in the house or backyard and then I started introducing the distractions. Worked for me on most of mine. There were some hardheaded ones, but over all the results were good. At one point, I could go out back, yell "down" and watch multiple dogs hit the deck. I totally agree with your trainer's thoughts.
G'luck & HNY to you and Benny.
Spence

Building the ability to handle frustration is great for Benny. I am wishing you, the trainer, and Benny many good sessions that bring about good changes for sweet Benny. Self-control is tougher to learn when a dog has lots of pizazz and is high-octane. But with great guidance, this could be the right trainer helping you both on a super path to success!

Great news and I bet you are looking forward to more sessions with your trainer! Way to go!

Benny also reminds me of my GSD. They can certainly be a challenging breed. Definitely over my skill level!

That would be a site to see The visual is pretty amazing anyway.

It sounds like a great session!

One suggestion: Quit being so predictable! Then this will go away -- "I could see him thinking. "Yeah she threw my ball and I got it and am running back to her, but I know she is gonna yell "down" and make me stop before I reach her!"

And change to "Yeah she threw my ball and I got it and am running back to her, but I don't know what she's going to do next! How exciting is that?"

Makes you more interesting, makes the dog think and watch and gives the dog less opportunity to figure out a "pass."